A preliminary analysis from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission puts the total manatee deaths at 823, just seven shy of the record set in 2013 — 830.

At least 211 of those deaths have been attributed to red-tide algae blooms that plagued the Southwest Florida coast for a year. Similar algae bloom events occurred in 2013, not only on the Southwest coast, but also in the Indian River Lagoon system, where manatees died in both Volusia and Brevard counties.

The total deaths in 2018 were more than a 50 percent increase over the deaths in 2017. But, in one glimmer of good news in an otherwise grim situation, manatee deaths dropped slightly last year in Volusia County.

State biologists are still investigating and finalizing their annual manatee mortality report and awaiting necropsy results for manatees thought to have been killed by the red tide blooms, said Martine de Wit, a manatee veterinarian for the FWC.

Shell’s recent success in the US Gulf of Mexico includes its deepwater Dover discovery on Mississippi Canyon 612, reported last year, near its Appomattox platform. The well was drilled by the Deepwater Poseidon ultra-deepwater drillship. Sources: Shell, Transocean.

In lieu of the traditional shovel groundbreaking, Miami City Commission chair Ken Russell, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami city manager Emilio T. Gonzalez (pictured l-r) perform the ceremonial water toss to mark the start of the first Miami Forever Bond project tackling flooding and sea-level rise. (Photo by City of Miami Office of Communications)